Oh. My. God. Are several of you still trying to make it to the office this morning? I knew I really shouldn’t have slept in a little this morning, but at the same time, I’m kind of glad I did.

You probably know by now that the Archives-Navy Memorial and Federal Triangle stations were closed due to high water from the overnight storm. Why don’t they tell us these things BEFORE we get on the metro? (edit: they do…just sign up for Metrorail e-Alerts). This closure knocked out four out of the five lines in the Metrorail system. Both stations also serve as pretty crucial links among the hub stations of Gallery Place, Metro Center, and L’Enfant Plaza.

So I get on at Potomac Avenue (Blue/Orange) and after reading the informational signs (what did people do before these signs were installed in 2000-01? I’d have been totally lost as Mr. Deaf Adam), I figured out that I probably should get off at L’Enfant, take a free shuttle bus to Gallery Place, and then metro to Takoma from there.

Easier said than done. It took me about 30 minutes (despite skipping Eastern Market altogether) to get to L’Enfant. I get onto the platform and it’s total pandemonium. It’s full, and Metro officials are yelling at people and pointing in various directions. Then an Orange Line bound for Vienna comes through, and one of the officials goes bananas, practically shoving wayward tourists onto the train.

I followed the bulk of the crowd up the escalators towards the turnstiles. There, I see another Metro official acting hysterically, shouting at three out-of-towners. I exit the station and climb outside to this sight:

Obviously I’m not the only one with the same idea. Shuttle buses rumble through D Avenue, constantly inhaling and regurgiating hot, sweaty, well-dressed humans. I’m waiting about twenty minutes, and finally I get in line for the third shuttle bus, and I almost, almost got on that one.

But no, I’m foiled. So I wait for the fourh one to get around, and I get on that one. It’s comfortably cool. I immediately start punching away at my Sidekick, talking with a friend who’s equally stranded at Smithsonian. After about twenty minutes, I figure we should be almost at Gallery Place.

I look around and see a sign for the Air and Space Museum. We haven’t budged more than two blocks. Apparently traffic on Independence Ave is shot, too, and all those tourists trying to cross the streets don’t help either. We try and try to turn onto 7th Ave, and mere moments after we do, the bus breaks down.

So off the bus we went. Then I notice that all the traffic lights are out on the Mall. Oh boy. If you like walking around downtown, you’ll know that Gallery Place is actually pretty close to the Mall, so that’s what I did–walk.

Walk, walk, walked we did, in an exodus of Federal employees and beleaugered interns, towards the gleaming jewel of downtown D.C., the Verizon Center.

I try and draw comparisons with the march over the Brooklyn Bridge as lower Manhattanites fled the wreckage of the Twin Towers, but it doesn’t work. It probably was the most serious transit/commute disruption in D.C. since 9/11, though. The damage from last night’s rains weren’t just limited to the Metro…the G.W. Parkway closed last night, MARC and VRE had delays, and all sorts of other fun stuff, too. Washington Post has the scoop here.

I reach Gallery Place, but the story isn’t too exciting from there on. The Red Line appeared placid in comparison to its temper-tantrum-throwing siblings. It’s a quiet, on-schedule ride to Takoma, where I stumble into the office two hours after I started the commute.

Somehow, I’m not sure if that’s the end of it. CapitalWeather.com says we’ve got two more days of downpours to endure before it’s all over. If some stations are still closed by the time I get off work, I’m taking the bus, even if it takes me two hours. THAT’S SO FUN!